Homeworld Commissariats
The Homeworld Commissariats of the Earth are the 17 commissariats designated to the nations of the Earth after the Great Defensive War and subsequent reorganization of government. The world hyperpower at the time of the Tyrum attack, the United American Commonwealth, while never recovering its hegemony, has remained a vibrant territory within the Greater Terran Union. The commissariat maintains a significant and multifaceted economy, with specializations in aerospace manufacturing, investment and banking, as well as agriculture. The product of settler colonialism itself, the UAC was among the first regions on the planet to incentivize non-human immigration. The commissariat was also the birthplace of the modern interventionist political theory. American representatives in the National Assembly have time and again been the fiercest voices in calling for war, while weapon systems manufactured in the commissariat have been adopted by every service branch within the Greater Terran Union. The United Americas flag was adopted in 2154 and designed to incorporate the colors of the former United American Commonwealth, which itself was based on the flags of the former United States and Canada. While the colors originally had no symbolism beyond their historical connotations, they were ultimately defined in 2314. The white symbolizes purity and innocence, the red, hardiness and valor, and the blue symbolizes vigilance, resilience, and justice. The European Federation was at the forefront of worldwide resistance against the Tyrum and the first to grant full authority to the emergency military coalition. Historically fragmented across dozens of nation-states, the establishment and government of the European Federation in 2034 was closely studied and emulated during the founding of the Greater Terran Union. Highly diversified even compared to colonial worlds, the Commissariat possesses many financial sectors, agricultural territories, and energy reserves. The Kiel Orbital Shipyards, located in geosynchronous orbit above the historic city, was for a time the largest of its kind in the Union and remains a high-tech shipbuilding center. The flag of the European Commissariat was closely modeled on the former Flag of Europe. While no formal interpretation has ever been made official, the blue is generally said to represent the shared skies of humanity, truth and intellect, while the gold represents glory and enlightenment. Comprised of Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia, the Pan-Pacific Commissariat is a region of geographic extremes. Its citizens are overwhelmingly employed in the service industry, including tourism, education, and financial services. The arrival of alien citizens whose species evolved on oceanic worlds is slowly beginning to transform the commissariat, however. Large scale infrastructure projects are being completed beneath the Pacific and resources forever thought out of reach are beginning to be exploited. If such trends continue, the Pan-Pacific Commissariat has the potential to become one of the largest economies on Earth and home to the largest number of non-humans. The flag of the Pan-Pacific Commissariat was adopted in 2154. The white fields represent the purity of the world’s oceans, while the blue stripe symbolizes life and vitality these oceans bring to all life. Recognized as the birthplace of modern humanity, the African Commissariat is one of the largest terrestrial providers of raw materials in the Greater Terran Union. Enormous deposits of iron ore, lithium, phosphates, natural gas, and many other natural resources made the region essential to worldwide reconstruction efforts following the Tyrum War and it has remained critical to the center of Terran industry ever since. The Commissariat flag was adopted in 2155. The green represents Africa’s great landscapes and natural wealth, the red represents the blood shed during the war against the Tyrum, the gold represents freedom and peace, while black represents the united peoples of Africa. The Arabian Commissariat was born from the re-emergence of a historic idea, that of a Pan-Arab state. The Tyrum invasion served to not only unite the region where previous foreign interventions had failed, but also repair the relationship with what was once called the “western world.” The Battle of Jeddah, in which forces from 19 former nations successfully defended the city, is often cited as one of the major turning points in the Tyrum War and a precursor to what would one day become the Greater Terran Union. The flag of the Arabian Commissariat was adopted in 2156 and features the traditional colors of the Arab Liberation movement. They are in part based on a verse from the 14th century Iraqi poet Safi Al-Din Al-Hilli: "White are our acts, black our battles, green our fields, and red our swords." Initially a Federal Capital District, Albion is the only terrestrial commissariat of Earth to have been formed after the declaration of the Greater Terran Union. Great Britain has long been wholly integrated into an isle-spanning megalopolis, and the entire region is virtually synonymous with the capital of London itself. The site of many of the Union’s largest political, military and economic headquarters, Albion can be justly described as the center of the Greater Terran Union. The Albion Commissariat Flag was adopted in 2183 and its design was meant to evoke the region’s earlier flags - particularly the national flag of the United Kingdom and the Standard of the President of Ireland. It has long been accepted that the first use of the Terran emblem occurred during the Budapest Campaign. Regardless of the historical authenticity of this claim, the citizens of the Balkans were among the fiercest supporters of the Union in its earliest days. While its scenic resort towns and Union Heritage Sites have drawn untold numbers of tourists from across the entire galaxy, the Balkan Commissariat is also home to sophisticated industries in the areas of electronic equipment, machinery, pharmaceuticals, and fuels. The Commissariat flag was adopted in 2154 and features the traditional colors of the Pan-Slavic movement, as defined in the Prague Slavic Congress of 1848. For much of the Tyrum War, the former Union State was the arsenal of humanity. A loose supranational organization consisting mainly of ex-Soviet nations, it consolidated its power and potential during the conflict, emerging as one of the last remaining great powers. However, nationalistic ambitions conflicted with worldwide integration and recovery. Despite its immense contributions to the Coalition during the Tyrum War, the Union State only acceded to its authority following a brief civil-war and military coup during the Murmansk Crisis of 2138. Today the Eurasian Commissariat is itself an energy superpower, having transitioned from exporting natural gas and petroleum to manufacturing fusion reactors and dark matter cores. The Eurasian Commissariat flag integrates the colors of the former Union State, with red symbolizing the lives lost in the Tyrum War, and gold representing the promising future ahead for the Eurasian people. The Tyrum Invasion succeeded where centuries of history had failed to unite the human race. While the former rivals of the Indian subcontinent were not integrated without controversy or even bloodshed, the preserved sections of the former Indian-Pakistan border, now national parks or museums, are proof of what can be accomplished when ancient grudges are discarded. Famous across the galaxy for its excellent textiles and telecommunication industries, the Commissariat is also a major shipbuilder, exporting tens of millions of interstellar craft each year. The flag of the Greater Indian Commissariat remains one of the most controversial within the Union. While the saffron, white, and green of the flag were meant to represent the universal values of courage and sacrifice, peace and truth, and faith and chivalry respectively, it has been criticized for failing to include the traditional colors of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, and Myanmar. Central America has always been a pivotal center of trade, linking not only the Americas, but what was once the Eastern and Western worlds. It is therefore fitting that the Central American Commissariat was the site of the planet’s first space elevator and a system-wide travel hub to this day. It is also home to an enormous financial center, with the capital of San Miguel in particular home to many of the Union’s largest banks and corporations. The flag of the Central American Commissariat was adopted in 2154. The blue field is meant to represent the world’s oceans, with the white stripe symbolizing Central America’s place in the world and its desire for peace. At the time of the Tyrums arrival, Japanese-Korean relations were fraught with tension, having been severely tested during the Second Korean War just 14 years earlier. While historical disputes complicated efforts to promote a common front against the Tyrum, the military necessity of the situation overrode all other concerns. Today the Japanese-Korean Commissariat is one of the most closely integrated regions in the Union, and its advances in public transportation and civic infrastructure have become the standard across not only Earth, but all its colonies. While it possesses a highly diversified economy, it is especially famous for its colonial industries. Nearly every major colony within the Greater Terran Union was built, at least in part, on modular habitats, energy nodes, or water reclamation systems built in the Japanese-Korean Commissariat. An amalgamation of the colors found in the former Korean and Japanese flags, the colors have no formally defined meaning and have been interpreted in many different ways. It was adopted in 2155. Hastily established during the Tyrum War, the territory of what would become the Karakum Commissariat was based on overlapping military zones rather than any consideration for historical, cultural, or ethnic concerns. The last of the terrestrial commissariats to be fully integrated into the provisional military government, sporadic fighting between rival groups would continue for decades. High Marshall Bairam Mahdavi is widely credited with bringing a lasting peace to the region and the spaceport that bears his name was, for a time, the largest in the Solar System. The flag of the Karakum Commissariat consists of bands of green, white, and red. The green is a symbol of nature, happiness, and vitality, the white a symbol of freedom, and the red represents those who martyred themselves against the Tyrum, their bravery, love, and warmth. It was adopted in 2154. Largely spared from the direct effects of the Tyrum War, Scandinavia become home to tens of millions of refugees during the conflict, as well as many of humanity's greatest achievements in the arts, hastily evacuated from museums and preserved in arctic vaults. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is credited with restoring worldwide agriculture and was again relied on during the earliest days of interstellar colonization. The generous welfare systems of the Union’s tiered citizenship structure were based in part on the so called “Nordic Model” and today the Nordic Commissariat is one of the most advanced local economies in the GTU. The flag of the Nordic Commissariat incorporates the colors of its former constituent nations. The colors themselves have no official meaning. It was adopted in 2154. Even compared to the inner colonies of the Greater Terran Union, the Pan-Asian Commissariat is a behemoth of industry. It is the most populous of all the terrestrial commissariats, with its enormous manufacturing centers benefiting from its immense reserves of natural resources. Competition with off-world colonies has led the commissariat to invest in agriculture, spearheading developments in advanced food processing and transgenic crops. A cultural superpower as well, the Pan-Asian Commissariat is home to a wide variety of Union Heritage Sites and other tourist destinations. The flag of the Pan-Asian Commissariat was adopted in 2154 and closely modeled on the former People’s Federation of China. The red background symbolizes the fires of the war fought against the Tyrum, while the yellow and white bands symbolize earth and metal respectively, echoing the ancient Chinese Theory of the Five Elements. A region of more than 700 islands, islets, reefs and cays, the Caribbean has always been prized for its natural beauty. Home to one of the planet’s most diverse ecosystems, it has been carefully protected over the centuries and recognized as an interstellar biodiversity hotspot. Citizens from all over the Union have vacationed within the commissariat and some of the Union’s premier hotels and resorts are located across its many islands. The official country retreat of the National Council, known as “Shangri-La” is located somewhere in the commissariat and it has been the site of some of the nation’s most important diplomatic meetings. The flag was adopted in 2155. The green alludes to the region’s fertile land, the red evokes the fight for freedom, the white symbolizes hope and purity, while the black reflects hardships overcome. South America was perhaps hardest hit by the Tyrum invasion and the restoration of its environment and biodiversity, especially the devastated Amazon basin, was one of the highest priorities of the provisional government. Since then, the economy of the South American Commissariat, while diverse, has been uniquely based around terraforming technologies and planetary conditioning. Historical relics, architectural and natural wonders, plus a diverse range of foods and culture, attracts billions of tourists every year to the region, while the 2624 Olympic Games catapulted the region to interstellar recognition. The flag of the South American Commissariat was adopted in 2155. The yellow represents the riches of the region, as well as the sun, the source of light. The blue represents the oceans that surrounds the continent, while the red symbolizes the blood spilled in battle against the Tyrum. Located near the intersection of several geological plates, the Sunda Commissariat has also been a historic intersection of culture and peoples. Within the Greater Terran Union it has emerged as a prominent site of interstellar trade, with a vast array of geosynchronous stations over the Commissariat serving as important transport and shipping hubs. Like several other commissariats on Earth, Sunda has attracted a disproportionate number of non-human citizens, who have started to develop and exploit areas of the region traditionally impossible to habitation. The Sunda Commissariat flag was adopted in 2157. The blue symbolizes peace and stability, the yellow represents prosperity while the black and white represent dynamism and purity respectively.